Fountain Maashaven (2022) Jeroen Jongeleen
The artwork will be on February 13, 2022 Fountain Maashaven by visual artist Jeroen Jongeleen unveiled. The work was created during Maashaven Palace Studio, a temporary manifestation of Sculpture International Rotterdam (SIR) that took place from 20 January to 20 February in the area between Maashaven metro station and Het Gemaal op Zuid. SIR asked the artist to intervene in this area, on the border between Charlois and Feijenoord. Jongeleen found it a difficult question because of the area development and advancing gentrification. In these kinds of tendencies, art is often instrumentalized in a way that does not benefit the residents, the artist believes, on the contrary. In a corner of the water, Jongeleen discovered a water outlet that causes water to bubble up or spray up at unknown moments. He decided to designate this 'objet trouvé' as a fountain. An absurd and unpredictable fountain, rather a 'punk version', which is at odds with the neatly designed design drawings for the park that is planned in the Maashaven. The fountain is an ode to the frayed edges and crumple zones of the city, which tries not to pretend to be better than it is. Moreover, this work of art cannot be encapsulated in city marketing, in which art likes to be used as hip or street art. Fountain Maashaven is included in the collection of Sculpture International Rotterdam.
Jeroen Jongeleen (Apeldoorn, 1966) is an adventurous artist who, in his explorations of the urban landscape, is constantly looking for unexpected paths. His works are like 'tracks' that lie somewhere between activism and intervention art, strongly influenced by the art movements of the avant-garde of the 20th century. As a contemporary member of the 'Situationist International', Jongeleen speaks with his hands, leaving his mark as he runs and climbs. He pays tribute to the rough sides of urban life. In the past, he defiantly left plastic shopping bags on city buildings, as a “triumph of the wind over high-rises”. His – less-happy – smileys give the passer-by a wink from yet another state of mind. From his love for the elephant trail, he endlessly ran his own grooves in the grass. He also moved artworks from the reconstruction to save them from the demolition hammer. You have to find his tracks, but once you discover his language, the city shows itself from a different side. Jongeleen lives and works in Rotterdam and Paris.